Concrete mixing and spreading machine



Aug. 13, 1929. E. H. LICHTENBERG CONCRETE MIXING AND SPREADING MACHINE Filed March 27, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet Aug. 13, 1929.

E, H. LICHTENBERG CONCRETE MIXING AND SPREADING MACHTNE 2 ShefS-Sheet 2 Filed March 27, 1926 liatented l3, 1%29.

CONCRETE MIXING $.91

application filed March 2'7, 1926.

The primary aim of this invention is to produce a machine for building concrete roads, which is designed to lay down the concrete aggregates the entire width of the road to be built, and in a progressively continuous manner. There is a growing tendency in this country, in highway building operations, to construct roads of uniform minimum widths and. Where an especially wide highway is to be produced accepted practice makes advantageous the buildi.

of the wider highway of a width constituting' a multiple of the width of the road of minimum accepted transverse area.

The foregoing conditions and developments of the art of road building renders dcsirable the use of a machine having' su'l'licient capacity, and suitably constructed to mix the concrete aggregates, and feed them to the road subgrade over the entire width of the same, and the machine hereinafter doe-- scribed in detail is intended to do this work.

lllore specifically presented, my machine embodies a portable mi. plant consisting of a plurality of coneree mixers supplied by a corresponding number of feeding hoppers. Associated with the mixing plant is a loading; device common thereto adapted to hoist batch boxes containing the dry ag gregrates to be mixed, carry the said batch boxes to a point above the feeding: hoppers, discharge them into said hoppers, and by their discharging operation set into action certain control means governing the action of the discharge chutes of the miners Also there is associated with the mixing; plant a distributing means preferably in the form of a distributing hopper which extends the whole width of the pavement or road sec tion to be laid. The mixed concrete aggregates are thus fed to the road section sub-grade and provisions are made whereby the concrete is'laid down in a layer, or of a thickness, substantially that required for the completed pavement.

The invention includes certain detail i locked control mechanisms which are e ntial for cooperative functioi'iing of the parts of my machine, and the machine is 1noreover designed to be advanced as a complete WItEBC-OFJ ISL'IN, ASSIGNUJR/ TO KQEHR-ING GOM- rt, C'vTlHPORl-llllllfllil OF WISCONSIN.

THLZJLCHINE.

Serial No. 97,933.

operating unit or plant, by the loading unit which is equipped with operating traction means for the purpose.

ll ith the foregoing in view, a full understanding of the invention will be had on reference to the following description in conjunction with the annexed drawings in which Figure .1 is a side elevation of a concrete loading, mixing, and distributing machine, ea'ibodyinp; the invention.

Figure 2 a top plan of the same, showing an indu t ial railway for bringing up the agorcgates from a central supply plant, ready to be handled by my machine.

Figure 3 is a sectional view, showing more clearly the distributing hopper and leveling means therein, together with the finishing roller associated therewith.

The general operating features of my machine may be set forth comprising the loading; device or apparatus A which comprises a rotary crane 1, having a boom 2 top ther with hoisting tackle means 3, operatively connected with an automatic grapple a, which may be of the type set forth in Letters lratcnt of Tranaas, No. 1,565,688, issued December 15, 1925. The automatic grapple at adapted to be engaged With a batch box 5 that may readily be hoisted from the truck of an industrial car operating on the tracks 6, seen in Figure 2. The operator at the crane 1 may thus control the discharging of the box 5 by manipulation of the hoisting cables 3, and a suitable grapple operating cable associated therewith.

The loading means or crane just described mounted upon a traction base 7 adapted to be driven from the power plant of the loading device which inclunes the crane 1. Under these conditions, the crane, being self propelling, is adapted to be connected up to propel the mixing and distributing devices of the invei'ition. For this purpose I provide the crane 1, with draft means 8, attached to a portable frame or traction base 9, equipped with wheels 10 at the front end and traction belts or niultiplanes 11 at the rear.

Upon the traction or portable support 9 is mounted the mixing plant which comprises sired, a single engine may operate the two mixers 12.

The distributing hopper 14 is common to the two mixers to receive the mixed concrete aggregates therefrom when the latter are discharged. Said hopper 14 has a restricted discharge opening 18 at its lowermost portion and of a length corresponding to the full width of the road or section of road that is being laid down by the machine. The said restricted discharge opening 18 is controlled by a discharge door 19 adapted to be opened to a greater or less extent under the control of a lever 20 having an'arm 21 attached by a rod 22 to the door 19, which restrictively, or retardingly, permits the aggregates to pass down upon the sub-grade. The thickness of these aggregates may thus be regulated. The lever 20 may be locked in different positions by cooperation of a latch thereon with a locking sector.

In rear of the hopper 14 may be provided a finishing device in the form of a strike off, or finishing roller 24 connected by links 25 to the hopper supporting structure.

Mounted in the upper portion of each feeding hopper 15 is a strip plate 26 pivoted to an operating shaft 27 and adapted to perform two functions. First, the shaft 27 has an arm to operate a trip rod 28 connected with the discharge chute 13 adjacent to said feeding hopper 15. When the loaded batch box 5 is discharged into the hopper 15 the trip plate 26 is struck by the gravitating aggregates and moves the discharge chute 13 into a non-discharging position in relation to its mixer 12. Secondly, the trip rod 28 actuated by the trip plate 7 26 is connected with a batchmeter 29 associversed in the art are fully advised as to the action of batchmeters so the operation there of need not be described. Said batchmeter,

however, when tripped by the rod 28 is set into action to control the mixing of the ag gregates simultaneously fed into the mixer,

' to prevent discharge of these aggregates until an elapsed period of mixing thereof in the mixer 12 is completed. Then the batchmeter causes operation of the discharge chute 13 to place it in the discharge position and empty the mixer 12 with which it is cooperating. This batchmeter control may be similar to that set forth in Letters Patent of Robb No. 1,370,497, issued March 1, 1921, except that the trip plate 26 trips the batchmeter into action instead of the latter being so tripped by a loading skip like that set forth in said patent. Or the operating means for actuating the chute 13 from the batchmeter 29 may be as set forth in the application of Webb, Serial No. 5,827, liled January 30, 1925.

Regarding the distributing means including the hopper 14, it is notable that said hopper is made in sections including the end sections 14 adapted to be removed. The end sections have end plates 14" adapted to be secured to the middle section of the hopper, if the road which is to be laid is substantially of the width of the middle section alone.

Mounted in the hopper 14 and upon its end plates 14 as well as intermediate bear ing brackets 30 is a sectional shaft which carries a series of screws or spiral blades 31 arranged on the shaft to be driven thereby, and adjacent of which blades extend in reverse directions. The purpose of these blades 31 is to level the mixed aggregates in the hopper, that is to spread them evenly over the bottom of the hopper.

The spiral blades 31 are driven by driving shafts 32 geared to the ends of the blade shaft 33, and the shafts 32 are driven from the engines 16.

The complete operation of my machine may now be set forth.

The dry aggregates for the concrete batches to be fed to the mixers 12 are supplied by batch hoppers 5 brought up on the industrial railway or railways 6. The crane 1 elevates a batch hopper 5 to a point above a feeding hopper 15, discharges the contents of the batch hopper into the feeding hopper and thereby sets the discharge chute 13 of the associated mixer 12 in non-discharging position by action of the trip plate 26. One of the mixers is thus caused to operate to mix a batch of concrete, and under the control of its batchmeter 29 discharges said batch into the distributing hopper 11;. Meanwhile the crane 1 supplies a batch box load of aggregates to the other hopper l5 and operates its batchmeter and trip plate in the same manner as previously set forth. Because of the great capacity of my machine for mixing, it is contemplated that the traction means 7 of crane 1 may be started into operation to move the whole combined machine progressively forward at a slew rate of speed, during which the operations of feeding aggregates to the mixers, mixing the aggregates in the mixers, discharging the aggregates to the sub-grade and finishing the aggregates after delivered to the subgrade in a predetermined thickness may continuously be performed in the progressive advance of the Whole machine.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to cover by Letters Patent, is 1- 1. In a paving machine, in combination, a portable traction support, a mixer thereon, means for ad ancing the support over a road sub-grade to be paved, a distril'uiting hopper of a Width substantially that of the road section to be laid on the sub-grade and having a restricted discharge outlet at its bottom, means for discharging from the mixer into said hopper a quantity of mixed aggregates partially filling the hopper to provide a body of supply aggregates to be laid on the subgrade, and means for leveling Within the hopper the aggregates discharged into the hopper so they Will be uniformly supplied to the distributing portion of said hopper.

2. In a paving machine, in combination, a portable traction support, a mixer thereon. means for advancing the support over a road sub-grade to be paved, a distributing hopper of a Width substantially that of the road section to be laid on the sub-grade, means for discharging from the mixer into said hopper, and means for leveling the aggregates discharged into the hopper so they Will be uniformly supplied to the distributing portion of said hopper, the means for advancing the machine over the road subgrade comprising a self propelling loader embodying means to supply the mixer With aggregates.

3. In a paving machine, in combination, a portable traction support, a mixer thereon, means for advancing the support over a road sub-grade to be paved, a distributing hopper of a Width substantially that of the road section to be laid on the sub-grade, means for discharging the mixer into said hopper, and means for leveling the aggregates discharged into the hopper so they will be uniformly supplied to the distributing portion of said hopper, the means for advancing the machine over the road sub-grade comprising a self propelling loader embodying means to supply the mixer With aggregates. the said distributing hopper having a distributor extending substantially its entire length and means for regulating the operative area of said opening.

a. In a paving machine, in combination, a portable traction support, a mixer thereon, means for advancing the support over a road subgrade to be paved, a distributing hopper of a Width substantially that of the road sect-ion to be laid on the sub-grade and adapted to hold a supply of material to be distributed, means for discharging the mixer into said hopper, and means for leveling the aggregates discharged into the hopper so they will be uniformly supplied to the distributing portion of said hopper, the dis trilniting hopper comprising sections whcreby its operative length which is substantially that of the Width of the road being laid may be ll11'02t5-3(l or decreased to conform with said road Width.

5. In a paving machine, in combination, a portable traction support, a mixer thereon, means for advancing the support over a road sub-grade to be paved, a distributing hopper of a width substantially that of the road section to be laid on the sub-grade, means for discharging the mixer into said hopper, and means for leveling the aggredischarged into the hopper so they will be uniformly supplied to the distributing portion of said hopper, the distributing hopper comprising sections whereby its operative length Which is substantially that of the Width of the road being laid may be increased or decreased to conform with said road Width, the leveling means in the hopper being also made in sections so that it may be correspondingly changed. as to length to conform with the length of the hopper.

6. A distributor for road paving niachines, comprising a hopper adapted. to contain mixed aggregates, and having a re stricted distributing opening capable of controlling the flow of material therefrom and a leveling device in said hopper to uni formly spread mixed aggregates supplied to the'hopper to an even depth over the operating area of said distributing opening.

7. A distributor for road paving inachines, comprising a hopper for containing a large distributable quantity of mixed aggregates and equipped with a distributing opening and a leveling device in said hopper to uniformly spread mixed aggregates supplied to the hopper over the operating area of said distributing opening, the hopper being made of sections so it may be shortened or lengthened and the leveling means being likewise made in sections for the same purpose.

8. A distributor for road paving ma-' chines, comprising a hopper adapted to contain mixed aggregates and having a distributing opening and a leveling device in said hopper to uniformly spread mixed aggregates supplied to the hopper over the operating area of said distributing opening, said leveling means consisting of a spiral blade device disposed above the distributing opening, and means for retarding the passage of aggregates out of said distributing opening so the hopper Will hold a large amount of mixed aggregates to feed there from.

9. A distributor for road paving machines, comprising ahopper having a distributing openingand a leveling device in said hopper to uniformly spread mixed aggregates supplied to the hopper over the operating area of said distributing opening, said leveling means consisting of a spiral blade device disposed above the distributing opening, and means for retarding the passage of aggregates out of said distributing opening, the hopper and the leveling means being made in sections so as to be shortened ierent degrees to thereby change the operative area of the distributing opening.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ERIGH H. LIOHTENBERG. 

